Jordan Kahn

IDC has just released their second quarter results for tablet and eReader shipments as well as an updated forecast for the remainder of 2011. While Apple continued to dominate with 68.3% of the global market during Q2, IDC expects Apple’s share to fall as vendors bring competitive Android devices to market later this year and early next.

The study reports second quarter tablet shipments worldwide increased 88.9% (303.8% year over year) citing robust demand for the iPad 2 and sales of 9.3 million units, leading the firm to raise its estimates for the remainder of 2011 from 53.5 million units to 62.5 million.

From the report:

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Not much more than a month after inking a $300 million partnership with Beats by Dr. Dre, HTC has today announced the HTC Sensation XE, their first device that integrates the “Beats Audio experience”.

The Sensation XE packs in Beats audio technology, a combination of software and hardware, that apparently delivers “studio quality audio” when used with the included Beats in-ear headphones. Using the headphones will run all audio through the “bespoke Beats by Dr. Dre sound profile” delivering crisper vocals and fuller bass for a “level of clarity and range offering audio the way the artist intended it to be heard”.

From the press release:

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According to a new report from comScore detailing the top smartphone platforms for mobile gamers, Android takes the top sport with approximately 30% of the market among 65.1 million mobile subscribers for the three month period ending July 2011. This in comparison to the roughly 21% held by Apple’s iOS.

The 65.1 million smartphone users included in the research played at least one game in the past month, just under 68% of which were using smartphones to do so. This accounts for approximately 27.8% of the entire U.S. mobile market. Interestingly, while Android was able to top the chart for total number of gamers, gaming on Apple’s iPhone seems to be reaching a larger portion of it’s user base with 61.7% of all users in contrast to 57.4% of Android users.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bu0IPC2F2g&feature=player_embedded]

In a new campaign entitled “The Way We’re Wired”, Samsung shows of its Galaxy S II smartphone in what we think is clearly an Apple/iPhone-inspired commercial. Ironically, the theme of the ad seems to be “nobody ever set their sights on second place” while depicting the Galaxy S II as the device to beat. The ad originally aired during an NFL broadcast yesterday, but you can check it out above if you missed it.

We told you this morning the Galaxy S II was benchmarked with fastest GPU of any smarpthone, giving yet another reason to consider what could be the most compelling Android option available when it lands on U.S. carriers later this month.

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9to5Mac told you about Gamestop’s plans to begin selling new iPhones, iPads, and iPods after recently beginning to accept the devices as trade-ins. Now, it appears that the company also has plans to drop a branded Android-powered tablet of their own.

In an interview with Games Industry, president of Gamestop Tony Bartel claimed the company is already testing the tablet that will apparently launch with a selection of pre-installed games and dedicated gaming controller accessory. Although, he isn’t disclosing who exactly will be manufacturing the tablet. The company also reportedly has plans to offer games over-the-air with a cloud service of sorts.

From the interview:

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This is my next is reporting that the successor to Google’s forthcoming “Ice Cream Sandwich” version of Android will be codenamed “Jelly Bean”, carrying on with its alphabetically ordered, candy-themed monikers.

Perhaps more interesting than the name itself, the report claims the “game-changing” features initially slated for Ice Cream Sandwich will now be pushed back to Jelly Bean, citing a “trusted source”. However, we don’t really know what implications this could have on Google’s big plans for Ice Cream Sandwich. Google’s Eric Schmidt recently confirmed that Ice Cream Sandwich will be launching sometime in October/November. This jives with rumors of the Ice Cream powered Droid Prime coming to Verizon mid-October.

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iFixit is at it again, this time with a teardown of Verizon’s recently launched 4G LTE Motorola Droid Bionic, which was also just discounted to $199 on Amazon.

One interesting note from the teardown is the fact the front-facing camera is most likely a 0.3 megapixel, a spec Motorola typically doesn’t provide. They also confirm the qHD LCD is the same that appeared in the Motorola Atrix and “every Motorola Android phone since”, and the larger than typical camera is to thank for “the “hump” at the top of the phone”.

The Bionic scored 9 out of 10 for repairability (10 being the easiest). A summary of the repair process is below, if you’re interested.

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It’s no secret that Microsoft makes more money off Android then their own quickly failing phone business, thanks to licensing agreements with HTC which see a royalty paid to the company for every Android HTC device sold. A new licensing agreement with ViewSonic will see Microsoft again collecting royalties off ViewSonic’s smartphone and tablet devices running Android or Chrome.

Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing Horacio Gutierrez had the following to say about the agreement:

“We are pleased that ViewSonic is taking advantage of our industrywide licensing program established to help companies address Android’s IP issues,” he continued, “this agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercially reasonable arrangements that address intellectual property.”

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That didn’t take long… The Droid Bionic, which just launched today for $299 on a new two-year Verizon contract, is already discounted $100 on Amazon to just $199. The Verizon online store still lists the device at the original launch price, however.

The 4G LTE capable Droid Bionic has been perhaps the most talked about Android device launched in recent months and at $199 is definitely an even bigger competitor. If you’re still having second thoughts, you can check out our review roundup here.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDl5hb0XbfY&feature=player_embedded]

We already expected Ice Cream Sandwhich, Google’s forthcoming overhaul of Android, to land sometime in the fall thanks to rumors of the Droid Prime landing on Verizon in October. However, a October/November release has now been officially confirmed by Eric Schmidt himself during the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco (video above).

“We have a new operating system, internally known as Ice Cream Sandwich for some reason, which is being released in October/November, which everyone’s really excited about.”

It’s also possible that the rumored Nexus Prime could be landing sometime in or shortly after that timeframe as well. As Android and Me points out, it might even land on Google TV in lieu of a public Honeycomb refresh.

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Google has just published a study entitled “Google’s Green Computing: Efficiency at Scale” comparing traditional business email solutions with Gmail. The results? Gmail is “almost 80 times” more energy efficient than conventional in-house software. This takes into account all Google infrastructure necessary to support the service.

A report from the Official Google Blog explains:

“…cloud-based services are typically housed in highly efficient data centers that operate at higher server utilization rates and use hardware and software that’s built specifically for the services they provide—conditions that small businesses are rarely able to create on their own.”

To help put it all in perspective (kind of), Google offers the comparison presented in the graphic below showing one year of Gmail is comparable to drinking a bottle of wine, stuffing a letter inside, and throwing it in the ocean. Google also put YouTube to the test and discovered that 1 minute of video consumes approximately 0.0002 kWh of energy. Thus, 72 hours of video would be equivalent to one packaged and delivered DVD. 

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Motorola and Verizon just issued a joint press release announcing the availability of the much talked about Droid Bionic. Looks like the wait is over, as of tomorrow (September 8th) the 4.3-inch 4G LTE smartphone will be available in brick and mortar Verizon retail stores or online for $299.99 on a new two-year contract.

The Droid Bionic will run Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and pack in a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8-megapixel backside (1080p HD video capture), an unspecified front-facing camera, and 32 GB memory (16 GB on board and 16 GB microSD).

Early reviews seem positive, but we’ll have to wait to get our hands on it to see if it lives up to the price point. Full press release after the break, if you’re interested.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfTmpKmLRjM&feature=player_embedded]

As of today, Google Voice has been added to Google Takeout, a service which allows you to quickly export data from specific Google applications. You can now export voice communications (transcripts too) with voicemail and greetings as mp3s, phone numbers as a vcard, and text messages as html.

The service lets you create a quick full archive of all your data, or select just Voice or another service. You can check out Google Takeout now, which also allows you to download data from other applications including your contacts, stream and circles from Google+, Picasa Web Albums, and your Google Profile info.

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Today we’re getting a nice look at some leaked images of the Samsung Stratosphere LTE capable smartphone, rumored to land on Verizon sometime this week.

The image above (via PocketNow) gives us a clear shot of this low price point device running Gingerbread 2.3.4, however specs on the device are still up in the air. According to rumors, it could sport a 5 megapixel backside and 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, and approximately 2GB of storage, but at this point your guess is as good as any. As you can see from the image, it also packs in a QWERTY slide-out hardware keyboard.

PocketNow is also predicting a price tag of $150 on a new contract. Many also expect the device to launch as early as the end of the week with the Droid Bionic.We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

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Looking for an entry-level 720p 10-inch Android tablet? What about one with a built-in Ethernet port? We just discovered this mystery device going for $160 on eBay and sporting a 1GHz ARM 11 Cortex A9 processor, 4GB internal storage, 3-megapixel camera, 512MB RAM, a “10.1 inch TFT Super slim 16:9 Touchscreen”, and built-in WiFi and ethernet port. It also bears a striking resemblance to the industry’s leader.

Nobody seems to know much about the “MID M1006S Android 10.1 Tablet PC”. A quick Google search revealed Shenzhen, China-based manufacturer HongKong Haokey Tech Co LTD appears to be behind the tablet. They currently have an Alibaba listing (20 units or more) which is more than likely the source for those reselling the device online.

Don’t expect a comparable experience to current gen leaders in the Android tablet market, however. Early reviews from CNET forum posters prove the resistive touch screen limits the experience, to say the least. Forum poster “R. Proffitt” notes, “No pinch or two finger zoom. So much does not work on resistive pads”.

Gallery below:

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While it might feel like yesterday in comparison to the other browsers, Chrome is celebrating its third birthday this month after having launched the Windows beta in September of 2008. In celebration, Google has posted an interactive HTML5 graphic charting innovations of Chrome that you can check out here.

They’ve also posted some of Chrome’s highlights over the years including innovations in prerendering technology, the Chrome Web Store, hardware accelerated 3D CSS, and the launch of the Chromebook.

Chrome has come a long way in just three short years, having released support for Mac and Linux a year in with its sixth release, and not long after moving to a six-week release cycle. Recent stats have Chrome steadily growing in market share and recently benchmarked as the fastest browser for real world use.

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Live off the floor at IFA in Berlin, Germany, Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the new Galaxy Note 5.3-inch All-in-one smartphone/tablet hybrid.

The LTE HSPA+ enabled Galaxy Note is truly impressive and possibly the first of its kind. Sporting a 1280×800 285PPI SuperAMOLED display, 1.4 GHZ dual core processor, and running Gingerbread,the Galaxy Note is unlike anything else out there.  Imagine the same amount of pixels as a 10-inch tablet, yet only slightly bigger than a smartphone.  Imagine a retina display, but three times bigger.

We suspected we might see a Galaxy Tab 7.7 variant at IFA after leaked images were spotted, and Samsung has confirmed those suspicions today by officially announcing the device, which also sports a 1280×800 285PPI SuperAMOLED display, and 5100 mAmp battery.  This device is over an ounce lighter than the previous Galaxy Tab 7 and is an incredibly only 7 and a half mm thin.

Both devices are of course packing Samsung built processors and support 720p video natively.

Wow.

Press release follows:
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Looks like Mozilla has taken a cue from Android for their latest work in progress Firefox for Tablets web browser. A blog post accompanied by some shots of the app explains how the company is “working tirelessly to make Firefox awesome on tablets” and also sheds light on how the app takes inspiration from “Honeycomb’s minimalist design language”.

On most fronts Firefox for tablets appears to be much the same as their mobile app for iPhone, but with some obvious enhancements to take advantage of the larger screen. Landscape mode gets a left sidebar for thumbnail tabs, allowing you to swipe through “tabs with your left thumb, and scroll through web content with your right”.

Portrait view puts tabs in a drop down menu tucked way in the toolbar, like many of the other elements which allows for an “unrestricted browsing” experience. This will definitely be a competitor for the many third-party browsers making their way to iOS. More shots of the app’s Awesomebar and tabbed browsing in action after the break.

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AT&T’s first 4G LTE/HSPA+ tablet isn’t going to be cheap. In fact, the company just announced the Honeycomb-powered HTC Jetstream will run you $699.99 with a new two-year commitment when it becomes available September 4th. We think the price tag is going to make this one a hard sell, especially if its competition releases a new iteration anytime before the Jetstream sees a significant price cut.

We told you about the Jetstream’s rumored specs a few weeks back, which for the most part seem to jive with the official specs from AT&T’s press release (below):

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLIh7YJsK3w&feature=player_embedded]

In a still developing story from IFA (via This is my next), Sony has officially unveiled the successor to their Xperia arc, dubbed the Xperia Arc S. We don’t know a whole lot as of right now, but the company announced the device will sport a 1.4GHz processor, display with “Bravia engine”, and a “3D sweep panorama” feature capable of capturing 3D panoramic image and outputting them over HDMI to your 3D TV. Look for it sometime in October.

We’ll keep you updated from IFA as more becomes available…

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When Google+ was launched, users were pretty receptive, to say the least. After Experian Hitwise reported a 3% decrease in traffic, the site went on to become the fastest growing in history. Today, a new report from Hitwise (via Bloomberg) shows the social network may struggle to catch up to 750 million+ strong Facebook.

While users spent an average of 5 minutes and 47 seconds on the service the week ending on August 27 (a 4% increase from the week before), U.S. visits to the site fell 5.5 percent to 1.6 million. The real story here is the fact that use of Google+ seems to have peaked backed in July.

July 16th seen the average time spent on the service peak at 5 minutes and 50 seconds, while U.S. visits to the site were up 283 percent that week. It’s necessary to note that these numbers can’t be taken as a truly accurate reflection of the service’s growth.

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